I am a social work researcher and teacher; a Professor at the University of Chicago, Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice. I am also the Faculty Director at the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture. My interests center on developmental processes of identity, belonging, and social-emotional well-being for youth and young adults who have experienced disruptions or displacements from their families of origin. I am founder of the Black Adoption Project and Direct the Interpretive Research Institute: Knowledge For Us By Us. I am particularly interested in healing and wellbeing among persons who have been adopted or experienced foster care. My work has explored the meaning of family, kinship and identity among transracially adopted and multiracial persons, and the ambiguous loss of home among young people aging out of foster care. Most recently, I co-authored a book with Dr. Kelly Jackson on Cultural Attunement in Social Work practice with Multiracial Families and Persons. I have led many qualitative and interpretive studies including the national policy and research initiative through Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago on homelessness among young people in the U.S.: Voices of Youth Count: http://voicesofyouthcount.org/. A rival passion, however, is teaching and student mentorship. I have over 25 years of experience teaching social work practice and research methods. At Crown I teach courses on direct social work practice and work with families and children drawing from anti-oppressive, critical, and relational perspectives. I also train and teach qualitative and critical interpretive methodologies and have mentored over 40 doctoral students in their research methods training.